A Ferrari driver has disclosed the steps his team has to take in 2024 to contend with Red Bull for the world championship.
With a new vehicle design, the Scuderia has significantly improved this season, and Carlos Sainz led them to victory in the Australian Grand Prix.
The Italian team can improve with the SF24, which also gives them a chance to face up against Red Bull on rare race weekends.
If competitor second driver Sergio Perez is unable to maintain a high level of performance, there is a potential they might fight for the constructors' championship with some good progress.
Together, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz make up one of the most formidable teams on the circuit right now, and they both have the wariness to withstand a fierce challenge from their rivals.
"This weekend, our car performed incredibly well," he remarked. "However, it will be difficult to maintain that position in every track until we implement an upgrade to bridge the gap that was observed in Bahrain and Jeddah."
"However, from the first lap around Australia, it seemed like a race-winning vehicle. We could have still achieved that [1min15.915sec pole lap time] in qualifying even if Red Bull had been faster and had taken the lead."
"Like we did last year, there will be songs where we excel. Additionally, even on the tracks where we are stronger this year, it appears that our race speed has improved. And I hope that we can push Red Bull more frequently in addition to having a strong development program."
Ferrari should be able to stay ahead of Red Bull for a longer period of time on the track thanks to their better tyre performance in race trim.
More push laps might potentially translate into more pole positions for 2024's top qualifier, Charles Leclerc, who has already proven that he is still as quick as ever in a single lap.
On the other hand, as it strives to remedy last year's shortcomings with its new MCL38, the McLaren Formula 1 team is aiming for additional improvements in three key areas.
Following team manager Andrea Stella's admission that the club had failed its launch aims and that a comprehensive mid-season revamp was already in the works, the MCL60, the previous year's model, was unveiled to dampened expectations.
With this year's MCL38 an evolution that tries to further improve on its primary weaknesses—aerodynamic efficiency, mechanical grip in low-speed corners, and how the vehicle interacts with the tyres—McLaren became the most improved team following that overhaul, rising to fourth position.
"There were three main goals," Stella clarified. "The first was to increase mechanical grip; the second was to increase aerodynamic efficiency; and the third was to increase the contact with the tires."
"Although we recognize that there is room for development in each of these three categories, I wouldn't want to assign a numerical value, but I would say that we have made progress in all three of these areas."
"There were a few projects that we had started, that had potential, but just we couldn't finalise them in time to have it on the launch car, so they will very likely become updates for the early part of the season." Stella speaks.
Stella believes that if the Woking team keeps releasing updates until they run out of funds or ideas, they will be able to "keep the trajectory" beyond 2024.
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